“The child by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth” UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

UK Parliament approve "Same Sex Marriage" Bill

The British government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill,
which was given a second reading in the House of Commons last night passed by
400 votes to 175.

John Smeaton in his BLOG tells us that pro-family MPs fought
back courageously against the same-sex marriage agenda. The strength of the
opposition to the bill was larger than expected, and came largely from the
governments own back-bench MPs. The bill now goes to Committee for further
scrutiny.

John Smeaton continues:

The debate lasting over six hours concentrated on the
government's justifications for introducing the bill - equality and justice,
and the issue of forcing churches to undertake same sex 'marriages'. MPs
promoting same-sex marriage said that civil partnerships were not now a
sufficient provision for same-sex couples, despite assurances given during
legislation, they now wanted same-sex couples to have the legal status and
terminology of 'marriage'. They argued that this was part of a long-term
historical move. However, they also reacted against suggestions that there
would be future moves to redefine marriage to include three or more people (polygamy).

Commenting on the debate, Paul Tully, SPUC's general
secretarytold the media:

"We are indebted to the pro-family MPs who fought back
to defend marriage in this evening's debate. This was a dark day for marriage
and the family, which will suffer severe and long-term effects if this
legislation is eventually passed. Future generations of children would suffer
as a result. So the fight to defend real marriage will and must go on. We call
upon the millions of people who value marriage to continue to lobby
parliamentarians to resist the bill.

Several MPs, notably Sir Roger Gale MP, pointed to the
broken assurances given during the passage of the Civil Partnerships Bill in
2004. Parliament was assured that civilpartnership legislation was not a precursor to gay 'marriage.' MPs who
had given those assurances are now saying that civil partnerships were part of
a long-term shift in social views. However, those MPs rejected with vitriol any
suggestion - before it was even mentioned in the debate -that redefining marriage might lead to
further changes such as legal polygamy.

MPs opposed to redefining marriage on this basis were
compared to supporters of segregation and apartheid, and reference was even
made to the concentration camps.

The critics of same-sex marriage were measured and effective
in the debate. SPUC is encouraged that the relevance of marriage to the welfare
of children was raised by a number of pro-marriage MPs. These included Robert
Flello, Edward Leigh, Stephen Timms, Cheryl Gillan andJohn Glen. They pointed to the unique
capacity of a marriage of man and woman to generate children, and the advantage
of children being raised by their natural parents. This was the first time that
these issues have become prominent in the parliamentary debate, and it is
important that MPs increase the attention paid to children in future stages of
the bill.

Edward Leigh MP noted in the debate that the possibility of
children was the rationale for the state supporting marriage. If children are
left out of the picture, there is no longer any compelling reasons for the
state to support marriage. That is the reason why the bill threatens to damage,
not strengthen, marriage as an institution."

SPUC's position paper on why it campaigns against same-sex
marriage can be read at this link

Pat Buckley

I was born in Galway, Ireland where I attended first Scoil Fhursa and then St Ignatius (Jesuit) College. My family moved to Cork in 1960 and I spent my last year at the Christian Brothers College in Mc Curtain street Cork (CBC).

I came to Dublin in 1963 where I met and married my wife Philomena. We have lived in Dublin since then and have been blessed with seven children and 17 grandchildren (so far). When I finished school I studied architecture through the professional institutions and I am a retired Member of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (MRIAI). I also hold a BSc. in psychology and political philosophy.

I currently lobby pro-life and pro-family issues at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and occasionally at the European Parliament and Council of Europe. I am a member of the pro-life, pro-family coalition operating within the international institutions and I am a consultant to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children SPUC on UN and related matters.

Between 1978-85, as a married couple Philomena and I were involved in the presentation of Marriage Encounter Weekends and pre-marriage courses. We also represented Worldwide Marriage Encounter on a committee for the family in the Dublin Archdiocese. Between 1985-1988. I was appointed National Secretary and then President of the Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association (CSPA). I have been lobbying pro-life issue at the UN for upwards of 12 years.

I am a past President of the National Association of Catholic Families (NACF)

Publications:

1997: Anthology of pro-life verse

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